Garden of Shadows
by dusk012301230123
Summary: Come Little Children, I'll Take Thee Away, Into A Land Of Enchantment. Come Little Children, The Time's Come To Play, Here In My Garden Of Shadows. Fai's been acting weird. Is it the supposed haunted house they've moved into or their new neighbor?
1. Come Little Children

**This is important for the plot! This song is what the plot is based off of and You must read it before going onto the next chapter! Or i guess you could listen to it cause a link to a video of the song is at the end of this chapter...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song and I don't own the Tsubasa Characters**

**Come Little Children by Kate Covington**

_Come Little Children, I'll Take Thee Away_  
_Into A Land Of Enchantment_  
_Come Little Children_  
_The Time's Come To Play_  
_Here In My Garden Of Shadows_

_Follow Sweet Children, I'll Show Thee The Way_  
_Through All The Pain And The Sorrows_  
_Weep Not Poor Children_  
_For Life Is This Way_  
_Murdering Beauty And Passions_

_Hush Now Dear Children, It Must Be This Way_  
_To Weary Of Life And Deceptions_  
_Rest Now My Children_  
_For Soon We'll Away_  
_into The Calm And The Quiet_

_Come Little Children I'll Take Thee Away_  
_Into A Land Of Enchantment_  
_Come Little Children_  
_The Time's Come To Play_  
_Here In My Garden Of Shadows_

http:/ www. youtube .com/ watch?v= oFWXwnJvXSE - **video with the song (Take out the spaces I don't own the video so give credit to the person who does plz. If the link is not there the video is Come Little Children - Anime Style~Lyrics in description By shuluvyu**

**If you don't want this video on here and you are the one who made the video my profile has my email on it you can email me and I will take it off as soon as I get the email. I promise.**


	2. Neighbors

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Tsubasa characters.**

**Claimer (sure we'll go with that): I do own Selena she's a made up character that I'll probably never use except for in this story. But either way plz don't steal her. Just ask. Really I'll let you use her if you ask.**

"Here we are!" Fai exclaimed as he landed in the new world.

"That's great." Kurogane mumbled, "Now would you get off me?"

Fai looked down to see Kurogane face-down on the ground.

"Silly Kuro-pyon, grass can't give hugs." Fai teased and stood up.

Kurogane spit out a mouthful of grass and dirt. "I wasn't trying to give the ground a hug, you idiot. You landed on me!" Kurogane yelled and reached for his sword.

"Now why would I land on you Kuro-chii?" Fai asked playfully.

Kurogane swung his sword at the blond who dodged it easily. "Because you're a pain in my ass!" Kurogane yelled.

"Oh that hurts Kuro-pii!" Fai said pretending to cry as Mokona patted his shoulder.

"You made Fai cry, Kuro-meanie!" it yelled.

"He's not actually crying! He's faking it!" Kurogane yelled as he crossed his arms and turned away.

He looked around where they had landed. There wasn't a cloud in the blue sky and the long green grass swayed in the gentle breeze. His eyes met a large wooden fence and he scanned down the fence. He finally found what he was looking for. Kurogane walked up to the gate and pushed on it.

"Don't do that!" Fai yelled suddenly.

Kurogane looked back at him with surprise. The mage's smiled had faded into a serious expression as he walked over to Kurogane.

"Don't touch." Fai said and swatted the ninja's hand.

"What's with you?" he asked as he glared at the mage.

Fai realized what was going on and plastered a goofy smile on his face. "It was freshly painted just a while ago and I don't want you to mess it up because who ever painted it did a great job." He said smiling.

Kurogane glared at him. "Mage." He growled knowing that Fai was lying.

"No really I can tell that it was just painted." He said with a smile, "Whoever painted it must have worked really hard because they did a really good job."

"Oh, that's nice of you to say." Said a voice and Fai's smile faded as he looked over at the now open gate.

"My name is Selena." She said taking off her straw sun hat to show her long brown hair, "May I ask who you are?"

Kurogane dropped Fai who he was holding by the collar of his fluffy white coat. He looked over at Fai who seemed to be frozen and sighed realizing he would be the one doing the introductions this time.

"My name is Kurogane." He said, "The girl's name is Sakura and the boy's name is Syoaran. This blonde idiot here is named Fai."

"You forgot Mokona!" Mokona yelled and jumped onto Kurogane's shoulder

"It's nice to meet you all." She said giggling.

Her eyes looked like freshly cut grass.

"Would you like to come in? It'd be great to get to know you all." She asked sweetly.

Kurogane nodded. "Thank you." He said.

He motioned for Sakura and Syoaran to come over here and they exchanged greeting with Selena before following her into the garden. Kurogane walked after them until a hand grabbed his upper arm.

"Kuro… don't…" Fai said.

"Don't what? You're acting really weird today." He said.

"Just don't." Fai said.

Kurogane picked him up bridal style and carried him into the garden. "You're just being shy." He said ignoring his repeated 'Don'ts'.

.:.:.:.

"So are you staying next door?" Selena asked as she poured lemonade into six glasses.

"Yes we just got here today." Kurogane said as his eyes wondered around the colorful garden.

She had a large white house that could have easily been mistaking for a mansion. Flowers, trees, and shrubs of all different sizes surrounded a stone pathway that lead through the garden. In the middle of the garden was a large pond with stepping stones leading to a gazebo in the middle of it where they were now.

"Oh that's great that that house will finally have someone in it again." She said happily as she passed a full glass to everyone.

"Has it been occupied before?" he asked.

"It's been occupied and emptied quicker than I've ever seen before at least twelve times." She said as she sat down, "It really is a nice house though."

Kurogane drank some of the lemonade. "If it's so nice than why does everyone leave so fast?" he asked curiously.

"I've never found out. Everyone leaves so fast I don't get to ask." Selena said as she took a sip of her drink, "It might be haunted." She joked and let out a laugh.

Kurogane didn't laugh. "Oh, don't tell me that you believe in ghosts." She said.

"Well when you've seen the things I've seen what other explanation is there?" He asked.

"I've never thought about it like that before." She said smiling, "There is one thing in common with all of the families that move into there though." She said.

"Oh, and what is that?" he asked.

"Well from what I remember all of the families had children with them when they moved in." She said taking another sip of her drink. "But I've never seen a child leave that house. Not once." She said.

Kurogane starred at the house wondering if a feather was possessing the house.

**Hmm... I made Kurogane OOC in here... I don't like it that much... Fai's a little OOC too but he has his reasons. And then there's Sakura and Syoaran who just aren't even really there... Oh well they'll be there later as in next chapter...**

**Anyway. Review please. I'm not going to abandon Half Of My Heart either so don't worry about it. K? **

**:)**

**Magic button of hope and wonder**

**V**


	3. New House, New Face, Same Old Fai

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tsubasa or the characters as much as I wish I did. No wait no! I don't wish cause then Yuuko will show up and take something and turn my wish into something I don't want. Even though it would be cool to see Yuuko...**

**Claimer: I own the plot line and Melanie! No stealing pwease!**

Fai rushed up to the house they were staying in a pushed open both of the large doors. The stupid smile was plastered back on his face and he jumped around like nothing had ever happened. Kurogane looked at the house. It could have easily been a haunted house; it looked like one. The outer walls had blackened with age and wooden shutters were barely hanging onto the windows. The fence around the front porch was broken in numerous places and broken glass from a living room window littered the wood. Kurogane stepped inside preparing to fall down a giant hole in the floor but what he saw was completely different from what he was expecting.

A huge, golden chandler hung from the ceiling and even though it was covered with cobwebs the fake jewels that hung off of it glittered in the sun and colors he never even imagened dance around the room. A ruby red rug with a gold border ran from the door up the steps and into the house. The room itself was giant but even that was an understatement. You could fit another house into this room and still have more space than you knew what to do with. He walked around the room in awe.

"Kuro-rin!" Fai called, "If you don't close your mouth a spider's going to crawl in there and build a web."

Kurogane closed his mouth. "Well what am I supposed to do? This place is bigger than Tomoyo's palace." He still looking around.

Fai smiled at him. "Yeah it is pretty big." He said looking at the ceiling.

"Mage, this place is giant and this is only one room!" Kurogane said surprised that Fai didn't find this place amazing.

"Hyuu~!" Fai 'whistled' and caught Kurogane's attention, "I'm going to go look around some more." He said and ran off.

Kurogane looked around the house wondering why anyone would ever leave here so quickly like Selena said everyone had.

.:.:.:.

Fai skipped happily around the kitchen with Sakura next to him. They were busy cleaning so they could get ready to cook. Fai had sent Kurogane and Syoaran to the store to buy some things for their stay here. Needless to say Kurogane wasn't happy about going but changed his mind after Fai told him that he could stay home and clean the house instead. Fai placed his hands on his hips and looked around the kitchen.

"Hyuu~!" he exclaimed, "Sakura-chan is good at cleaning." He smiled.

"Thank you." She said happily.

"What about Mokona? Is Mokona good at cleaning too?" the bunny like thing asked while jumping on the marble counter-top.

Fai patted it head. "You did a good job too, Mokona." Fai said smiling, "We've got a lot more to do though so I think it's best if we all spilt up and clean. Why don't you two stay down here and clean and I'll go upstairs?"

Sakura nodded and carried Mokona off into the house to clean.

Fai grabbed his things for cleaning and headed to the rooms upstairs.

.:.:.:.

Fai had cleaned at least half of the rooms upstairs and was walking into a new room. He pushed open the door and looked around the room. This one seemed to be worse than the others. It was smaller than the others as well. He put down his things and pulled up the covers on the bed before neatly straightening them out. He shook dust off of the pillows and laid them on top of the quilt. He grabbed a duster and swiped the layer of dust off of the nightstand. He coughed at the new airborne dust and waved his hand around in the air. A sneeze was heard in the room and he froze.

He didn't sneeze right? And Sakura and Mokona were downstairs so he wouldn't be able to hear them if they sneezed.

"Hello?" He asked, "Is any one there? Gazuntite."

He looked around the room wondering if he was just hearing things.

"T-Thank you." Said a small voice.

Fai turned around quickly towards the closet.

"Hello? Are you in the closet?" Fai asked and grabbed the handle.

Fai pulled open the doors slowly.

"Why are you in the closet?" he asked the girl who was in the corner of the closet and curled into a ball.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Don't tell her I'm here." She pleaded softly.

Fai knelt down and held out his hand to her. "Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you." He said trying to calm her down.

"Don't tell her I'm here. Please don't tell." She pleaded again sounding desperate.

Fai smiled gently at her. "I won't tell anyone you're here." He said.

"Promise?" She asked.

Fai nodded. "Yeah, I promise." He said.

She grabbed his hand cautiously and Fai pulled her up from the floor.

"What's your name?" he asked the girl.

Now that she was in the light he could see her clearly. She had jet black hair that was longer in the front and shorter in the back. Her messy bangs were long enough to cover her forehead but left her eyes untouched. Her eyes would have been white if not for the small tint of pink. Freckles were grouped onto her cheeks but Fai hand to admit they fit her perfectly.

"Melanie." She said, "My name is Melanie. What about you?"

"It's nice to meet you Melanie. My name is Fai D. Flowright." Fai said and smiled at her.

"Who don't you want to know that you're here?" he asked.

Melanie rubbed her eye. "Her name is-"

"OI, MAGE GET DOWN HERE!" Kurogane interrupted.

Fai sighed. "I suppose I'll have to wait until next time to hear her name." He said, "It was nice to meet you Melanie. I won't tell anyone you're up here. Promise. I'll come back and talk to you whenever I get the time. Ok?" he asked as he grabbed the doorknob.

She nodded.

"MAGE!" Kurogane yelled.

"I'll be right there!" Fai called back and walked out of the door.

.:.:.:.

Kurogane stood next to the stairs waiting for Fai. As soon as he saw the blond turn the corner he grabbed him and pinned him against the wall.

"Kuro-mii, what are you doing?" Fai asked as Kurogane pinned his wrists to his sides.

"What's with you?" he asked.

Fai smiled and tilted his head pretending that being pinned to a wall didn't scare him in the least. "What ever do you mean, Kuro-pii?" he asked.

Kurogane tightened his grip on the magician's wrists and Fai let out a small whimper of pain. "You're acting weird. Earlier, at Selena's you acted like you weren't even there. Why didn't you want to go and meet her? And then we leave her house and as soon as we step off the lawn you're back to your old fake peppy self. Then I come home and come upstairs to find you and I hear you talking to someone. Sakura and everyone were down stairs at the time too." Kurogane said as his grip got even tighter making Fai bite his lip to try and ignore some of the pain, "Who were you talking to mage?"

Fai avoided the ninja's glare. "Kuro, stop you're hurting me." Fai said and pushed himself further against the wall to try and get away from the painful grip.

"Who were you talking to, mage?" Kurogane asked and glared at the blonde.

"I was talking to Selena. She had her window open and I was apologizing for earlier." Fai said hoping Kurogane would believe it.

Kurogane's grip only tightened. "Don't lie to me." Kurogane growled, "Fai, tell me who you were talking to.

Fai let his smile fall and met the ninja's glare with an even colder one. He pulled his hands out of the larger man's grip and pushed him away. Kurogane looked at him in shock; Fai was thin as paper and only came up to the ninja's collar bone but when he wanted to be Fai could easily be stronger than Kurogane. It surprised him every time it happened, which was only a few times, but Kurogane always knew in the back of his head that Fai was stronger ever since that first time it happened in the world of Infinity.

Fai rubbed his wrists that were now red. "I can't tell you." He said simply as he glared at the ninja who had fallen on his butt from the push.

Fai walked away from the ninja and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Kurogane heard him call Sakura to help with cooking and watched as she hurried into the kitchen with the pork-bun hanging onto her shoulder.

***sighs* I'm not going to be able to update any of my stories for a long time... I have to do my homework cause I go back to school on the 23rd and I haven't really done much... Anyone wanna do my homework? Please? No I'm kidding don't do my homework please... I ask people to do my homework at lunch and I'm being sarcastic and then like five seconds later they're helping me with my homework... I really don't want the help actually. I'd rather do it on my own cause I'm weird like that...**

**Stormy thinks I'm weird! She does a lot of facepalms when we're together. See I'm completely terrified of spiders... I hate everything about them really. I know they won't hurt me (unless they're those ones in Africa that are as big as trashcan lids my powerpoint teacher told us about... *shudders*). Anyway a few days ago I found that a spider made a web outside my window and its not a big spider but its brown and fuzzy. I named him Jeffy and he is still there.**

**I'm going to update Half of My Heart tomorrow and then that's it until I either finish my homework or get bored of it and take a break. I'm not going to abandon either of the stories I'm working on I promise. And if I do feel free to slap me because I'll deserve it... and when school starts I'll try to update on Saturdays (I luv saturdays!).**

**Thanks for putting up with me. I know its not easy. :D**

**PLEASE REVIEW TO RELIEVE SOME OF MY PAIN OF HAVING TO DO SO MUCH HOMEWORK. TT^TT**

**V**


	4. Victim Number One

**It was late when I wrote this so I apologize for any crappiness.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Tsubasa characters or the song.**

Kurogane watched the mage as he sat with everyone at the table. He was carefully making sure that his sleeves were always covering his wrists that were still red from the incident he and Kurogane had earlier this afternoon. Kurogane pushed away from the table.

"What's wrong, Kurogane-san?" Sakura asked, "Is there something wrong? Don't you like the soup that Fai-san and I made?"

Kurogane shook his head quickly. "No your soup is fine. I guess I'm just not hungry tonight." Kurogane said and walked away out of the kitchen.

"Oh, I knew my cooking wasn't good." Sakura said sadly.

Kurogane winced as he listened outside the door. He already felt guilty about hurting the mage he didn't need another thing to feel guilty about.

Fai put his hand on her shoulder. "You're cooking is great, Sakura. I've never tasted anything as good as your cooking." Fai soothed.

"Kurogane-san said he just wasn't hungry. He doesn't have anything against your cooking." Syoaran insisted.

"Mokona wants seconds!" Mokona cheered as it held up the empty bowl.

"See everyone loves your cooking." Fai said and stood up.

He poured some more soup into the bowl Mokona gave him and laid it on the table. He took his own empty bowl and spoon and set them in the sink.

"Why don't you, Syoaran, and Mokona clean up after dinner and I'll go talk to him?" Fai suggested as he placed his glass in the sink.

.:.:.:.

Fai pushed open the door to the room Kurogane was staying in. "Kuro-sama." He said as he stood in the doorway.

Kurogane grunted in response.

"Sakura-chan was really upset when you left the table." Fai said as he closed the door.

Kurogane didn't respond but instead opted to look out the window.

Fai walked over to the bed and sat on the side of it. "I think you really hurt her, Kuro-mii." Fai said looking at the ground, "It's not like getting hurt with a sword either. Wounds like that heal."

Kurogane looked over at the blonde. "What do you want me to do about it?" Kurogane snapped and mentally smacked himself as soon as the words left his mouth.

Fai stood up and glared at the ninja. "I don't know maybe try apologizing." Fai said curtly and crossed his arms over his chest, "How about showing them that you actually care about them! Oh, here's an idea, let them know that they're important to you and that they're not just things that get in your way!"

Kurogane looked at Fai with wide eyes. "They are important to me! I let them know that!" Kurogane said, "I do don't I?"

"No, you don't you." Fai snapped, "You never let them get close to you. You're always so distant to us!"

Kurogane shook his head in denial. "No, they know I care about them. I do care about them, I really do." Kurogane said trying to ignore that he never spent much time with them.

"Sakura sure doesn't know! Especially after tonight." Fai yelled and walked over to the door.

He grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. "She thinks that you hate her, Kuro." Fai sighed and turned away, "Maybe I'll just call you Kurogane from now on. It's what you want anyway." He said and closed the door behind him.

Kurogane sat on the bed, dumbfounded. How could Sakura think that he hated her? Kurogane couldn't believe it; after all the times he did for her she thought he hated him. He showed he cared about them all the time! Like when they were in Ôto and he… never mind Ôto didn't matter… When they were in that world with the library he…

Kurogane racked his brain for at least one time when he showed everyone he cared about them but failed to find anything. What about Fai? Fai knew he cared. Fai was the one who… the one who he had hurt earlier…

"Damn it!" Kurogane yelled and kicked the nightstand.

Kurogane let himself fall on the bed and he starred at the ceiling lost in thought.

.:.:.:.

Kurogane walked down the steps to the living room.

"Hey, where are the kids I need to talk to them?" he asked Fai who was comfortably curled on the couch reading a book.

"They're asleep." Fai said turning the page, "Whatever you need to say needs to wait until morning, Kurogane."

It was weird hearing the mage call him by name. After all of years they had spent together Kurogane had grown used to the nicknames that Fai had given him.

"It can't wait until morning, mage. I need to go wake them up so I can talk to them." Kurogane said and walked out of the living room.

"Don't you think you've done enough for one night, Kurogane?" Fai asked loud enough so that Kurogane could hear him.

"I _have_ to fix this, mage." Kurogane said and walked up to their bedrooms.

"Mokona, why does Kurogane-san dislike me?" Sakura sniffled.

Kurogane pressed his ear to the door to listen to what she was saying.

"He likes you, Sakura. Mokona knows these things." He heard Mokona say.

Kurogane nodded in agreement with Mokona.

"I don't know Mokona." Sakura said.

"Sakura, Kurogane cares about you." Syoaran said, "He cares about all of us."

Kurogane nodded again.

"Name one thing he does for anyone here." She said.

Kurogane mentally sighed. Even he couldn't think of anything he did for any of them.

"He protects us when we're in trouble." Syoaran said.

"If he didn't then he'd never get home." Sakura countered.

"He went out and bought stuff for us to eat tonight." Syoaran said.

"It was either that or clean the house." Sakura said tiredly.

"What about in Acid Tokyo when he agreed to become prey for Fai? Or when he cut his arm off to save Fai in Serasu?" Syoaran asked.

"He only agreed because Fai would have died and he wouldn't have gotten home. That's over now anyway. Fai's no longer a vampire and Kurogane has an arm from Piffle." Sakura said.

Kurogane could almost hear her falling asleep on Syoaran's lap.

"He taught me how to fight. And when we were in Piffle he pushed you out of the way of the water so you could continue the race." Syoaran said, "He does care about you, Sakura."

Kurogane guessed that she had fallen asleep because no more sound was heard from inside the room.

.:.:.:.

Kurogane walked back into the living room where Fai was still curled up on the couch.

"Did you get what you wanted to say to them?" He asked.

"No. I didn't. It can wait until morning." Kurogane said, "I'm gonna head up to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Fai sighed, "Goodnight Kurogane."

Kurogane stopped and walked back over to the mage. He took the book from his hands and placed it open on the nightstand so he wouldn't lose his place.

Kurogane pulled the mage off the couch and held the blond close to him.

"I care about you too. You should know that too." Kurogane said squeezing the mage in a hug, "I'm sorry for hurting you earlier and I've never regretted anything more. If I could redo this night over I would without a doubt."

Kurogane grabbed the blonde's arm and pulled the sleeve back. He looked at the bruised wrist and wondered why he thought doing that was a good idea.

"I'm so sorry, Fai." He said and Fai pulled his arm away from the taller man, "I'm so so sorry."

Fai felt something wet drip onto his cheek and run off his face.

"Don't." Fai said lifting his hand up to wipe away a tear that was slowly running down Kurogane's cheek.

.:.:.:.

It was late at night and everyone else was in bed. Fai softly knocked on the door.

"Melanie, its Fai are you still up?" he asked quietly.

He waited a while before slowly pushing open the door.

"Melanie? Are you in here?" Fai asked as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

The bed was unmade and it looked like someone had flown out of it in a hurry.

"Melanie?" He asked and slowly opened the closet doors.

He found her in the same position as earlier.

"Why are you always in the corner?" he asked.

"D-don't say my name…" She whispered, "Don't even talk… pretend I'm not even here."

"Why?" he asked in a whisper.

"It's her." She whispered, "Listen and don't make a sound. And please don't let me leave."

Fai listened carefully but it didn't take long for him to hear the haunting melody.

_Come Little Children, I'll Take Thee Away  
Into A Land Of Enchantment  
Come Little Children  
The Time's Come To Play  
Here In My Garden Of Shadows_

_Follow Sweet Children, I'll Show Thee The Way  
Through All The Pain And The Sorrows  
Weep Not Poor Children  
For Life Is This Way  
Murdering Beauty And Passions_

_Hush Now Dear Children, It Must Be This Way  
To Weary Of Life And Deceptions  
Rest Now My Children  
For Soon We'll Away  
into The Calm And The Quiet_

_Come Little Children I'll Take Thee Away  
Into A Land Of Enchantment  
Come Little Children  
The Time's Come To Play  
Here In My Garden Of Shadows_

The song was only heard once. It was beautiful and yet gave him goose bumps at the same time. They didn't talk for what felt like an hour after the song had ended.

Finally Melanie let out the breath that she had been holding in. "It's ok. She's gone now. It's ok to talk but keep your voice down just in case." She said softly.

"Who was that?" Fai asked.

"Or what for that matter." Melanie said and hugged her knees closer to her, "I don't really actually know who or what they are. I've been guessing its female whatever it is because of the voice. But I can tell you that it's not from this world."

"Would you like to stay in my room for the night?" Fai offered.

Melanie shook her head. "No thanks. I'll be fine now. She won't be back until tomorrow." She said.

"Well if you need me, my room is right down the hall." Fai said and stood up and offered Melanie a hand.

"Thank you." Melanie said and grabbed his hand.

"Good night." Fai said and walked to his own room.

"Goodnight, Fai D. Flowright." Melanie said after the door had closed.

.:.:.:.

Fai abruptly woke up as his door flew open. He sat up instantly thinking that it was Melanie but was surprised to find a puffy-eyed, stressed out looking Syoaran.

"It's Sakura…" he said, "She's gone."

**Yeah I know I said I wouldn't be updating for a while but I finished my chemistry homework yesterday which means (according to Dusk's big book of rules) that I get the rest of the day off yay! lol**

**It took me three hours to do my paper and two days to memorize some of the periodic table! No I actually really suck at science my best subject is math but I'm having a crappy time with that cause I'm brain dead... x.x**

**I need to ask a favor! Melanie gets found either in the next chapter or the one after it (she can't live in the closet/her room forever)! I need you guys to tell me when she should be found and by who! Please tell me in reviews or message me (I don't bite only nibble I swear) or email me. Thanx!**

**Review! It actually makes my homework go a bit faster! (Really it actually does)**

**V**


	5. Lost and Never Found

**I'M SOO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SOOOOO LONG! =::( I apologize for the lateness (wtf? weird word... it is a real word though right?) of this chapter they're not really going to update much faster than this but they'll update I promise**

**Disclaimer: I don't own CLAMP or anything made by CLAMP.**

**Claimer: I still own Melanie and Selena NO STEALING EVER!**

"Gone?" Fai asked and quickly got out of his bed.

"Yes, I was with her last night and I must have dozed off because when I woke up she was gone." Syoaran said quickly.

"Did you check the house?" Fai asked.

Syoaran sighed, "I only checked half of it. It's too big for me to find her here on my own."

Fai walked over to the door, "Let's wake up Kuro and we'll all look for her." He said and walked out of the room with Syoaran close behind him.

.:.:.:.

"Kuro-rin!" Fai yelled and jumped on the dark haired man who was still asleep in bed.

The ninja sat up quickly as the magician landed on top of him. "Damn it Fai!" He growled, "I thought I told you not to wake me up like that!"

Fai poked the larger man's face. "Wakey wakey sleepy head." Fai said smiling.

Kurogane pushed the blonde off of the bed and grabbed his sword.

"Aww, Kuro-chii I'm sorry but there's no time to play tag right now." Fai said looking like he was disappointed.

"It's not tag, idiot." Kurogane said as he swung his sword.

Fai easily dodged it. "I told you, not now." Fai said shaking his finger at the ninja, "Right now we have to find Sakura-chan."

"What do you mean 'Find Sakura'?" Kurogane asked letting his hands fall to his sides.

"Well," Fai said clapping his hands together, "Syoaran-kun here was with Sakura-chan last night and he fell asleep. When he woke up _poof!_ no Sakura-chan."

Kurogane put his sword away. "Did you check the house?" he asked.

"Syoaran-kun checked half of it but it's too big for him to check all on his own." Fai said.

Kurogane looked over at Syoaran who nodded at him telling him that Fai wasn't just making up stories. "Well then we should start looking shouldn't we?" Kurogane asked and walked out of the room.

.:.:.:.

They searched the house until every room had been checked at least three times. Fai, of course, checked Melanie's room for all of those times and told her to hide in the closet until Fai told her that it was safe to come out. Everyone concluded that Sakura was not in the house and it was decided that Syoaran and Kurogane would go out with Mokona and look for her while Fai would stay at the house in case she came back.

As much as Fai disliked the idea he agreed. As soon as they left he hurried to Melanie's room and told her it was alright to come out of the closet.

"Melanie?" It's Fai." He called as he entered the room, "You don't have to stay in the closet anymore. Everyone went to look for Sakura."

Fai walked over to the closet and opened the door. "What's wrong?" he asked seeing tears run down the frightened face.

Fai pulled the girl out of the closet and guided her over to the bed. "It's alright, Melanie." Fai soothed, "What's wrong? What are you scared of?"

Melanie shook her head. "It's just like before." She cried, "It's no use."

Fai rubbed her back in attempt to calm her. "What's just like before? What's no use?" he asked.

"You're not getting her back." She sniffed, "She's never coming back."

"Sakura-chan?" Fai asked, "Are you talking about Sakura-chan?"

Melanie nodded.

"Do you know where she is?" Fai asked.

Melanie nodded once again.

Fai felt excitement grow and replace the worry he felt for the princess. "Can you take me there?" He asked.

Melanie shook her head ad Fai's excitement disappeared.

"Why not?" he asked.

"I'm never going there." She said and started to tremble, "I'm not… I won't… can't make me…"

Fai grabbed her shoulder. "I'm not making you go anywhere, Melanie." Fai said and the girl's trembling settled a bit, "You don't have to do anything. I'm sorry that all of this is frightening you."

"It's not your fault." She said softly, "You know where your friend is too. Even though you don't realize it yet, you know." She placed the tip of her finger on his chest where his heart was. "It's not something you know really, it's just a feeling. But it's a knowing feeling."

Fai looked down at the girl and noticed her eyes were glazed over. "Melanie?" He asked.

She jumped and looked up at Fai like she hadn't seen him come in. "Fai-san…" She said tilting her head a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said as she pulled away her finger like it had been burnt.

Fai smiled gently at her. "It's ok." He said rubbing the top of her head.

"Would you like to come down and make dinner with me?" he asked.

She hesitated for a bit and thoughtfully looked at the ground.

"I know it's a bit risky but I could use the company." Fai said smiling, "And you don't have to worry about the others, I'll protect you."

Melanie returned his smiled before nodding.

"Alright then, let's start cooking." Fai said leading her out of the room.

.:.:.:.

"I bet you don't get out of that room often. How long's it been since you've seen the rest of the house?" Fai asked watching as Melanie mixed together ingredients for bread dough.

"What are you talking about?" She asked not missing a beat, "I see the house every night. I probably see more of it than you do." She said simply.

Fai ran water over some lettuce he had put in a strainer. "What do you mean see more of it?" he asked.

"Well when you've been here as long as me you notice things." She said concentrating on the dough.

"Hyuu~!" Fai whistled, "What kind of things?"

Melanie looked up from the bowl and looked around the room. "What do you see in this room?" she asked.

Fai set the strainer down on the counter and looked around the room. "I see a kitchen. There are counters, and a refrigerator. There's a stove and a sink. Just normal kitchen stuff I guess." Fai said, "Why what do you see in this room?"

Melanie looked at Fai but to him it seemed like she was looking through him. "Nothing." She said and threw flour on a wooden surface, "Nothing at all."

.:.:.:.

Fai pulled out the bread that Melanie had made from the oven and set it on the counter. "It looks great and smells delicious." Fai complemented and Melanie smiled.

"Thank you." She said happily.

"We're back!" Mokona exclaimed as it hopped through the door.

Fai's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting everyone back so soon. He looked over at Melanie only to find nothing. Nothing but air. Fai starred at the spot he knew that Melanie was just standing in. She was there wasn't she? He was positive she was, he was just talking to her a second ago.

"Oi, Mage, you ok?" Fai heard from the doorway and turned around.

"Yeah I'm fine, Kuro-rin." He said with the goofy smile plastered on his face.

Kurogane looked at him fully knowing that he was lying. "Whatever." He snorted, "Hey Selena helped us look for Sakura. Is it ok if she stays for dinner?"

"S-Sure." Fai choked out.

"You're acting weird again." Kurogane said and walked over to the blonde, "You sure you're ok?"

Fai's face turned a light shade of pink as Kurogane held his hand against the smaller man's forehead. "Well you're not sick or at least you don't have a fever." Kurogane said moving his hand away from Fai's forehead.

"Go sit down, mage. You look like you could use some rest." Kurogane said.

Fai walked over to the table slowly and sat down.

"Any luck with finding Sakura?" He asked.

Syoaran shook his head. "Unfortunately, no one's seen her." He said sadly and hung his head.

"I'm sure we'll find her though." Fai looked up at the voice that startled him.

Selena smiled at him. Her brown hair framed her face perfectly. Fai felt his heart skip a beat as her green cat-like eyes met his blue ones.

"Y-yes." Fai said and put his legs under his chair.

Kurogane walked in the room with the food Fai and Melanie had made earlier. He looked at Fai curiously. The idiot looked like he was trying to sink into his chair. Kurogane rolled his eyes at the blond and brushed it off as being shy.

**Shut up Kuro! People can so go poof! lol I'm sorry about the last chapter and the OOCness of it all. I was writing that around... um... late... My Homework still isnt done! I finshed Math (if you count that I didn't understand almost every other question so I circled it and left it blank and moved on complete...) and I finished Chemistry. Thankfully My world cultures isn't due until Firday which is good cause I wouldn't of had it done by monday... I can't believe we're going back so early this year!**

So, uh my friend Stormy volunteers for the zoo and gave me this email to me a while ago and it was about helping sea turtles in the Gulf Coast. You don't have to do anything but go on a site and click a button and it would barely take a minute or two. But every day you can vote (**Everyday until August 31st**) for the idea and if enough people vote for it there could be nationwide facilities that help the breeding and rehabilitation of the turtles.

Being Stormy's friend I said I would vote for it (plus I sorta owe Stormy from band camp). SO if you wanna help the link is at the bottom of my profile (you don't have to read through all the junk) If you don't wanna help then don't click on the link.

Ps. I'm sure Stormy would like to hear from the people who vote so if you message me I'll forward them to Stormy. Promise! (Neither of us bite but I make no promises for me ;) )

**I hope to update everything soon! Thanks for sticking with me through all of this I know its hard...**

**Click to make my life a bit better...**

**V**


	6. Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in a week. It won't be another week until I update again. I'll try to update every Friday but if there's no update on Friday then I'm probably moody or stressed or busy... If there's not an update for the story then I'll at least put something on my profile to explain why I didn't update. If I say I have too much homework when you review say "Ha! That's bull and you know it!" because it is bull cause I have almost no homework so far just a few things each night. Although school only started on the 23rd so maybe as the year goes on I'll get more homework. If I do get more homework I'll say so and I'll promise cause I try to keep my promises. If I start complaining and bad things start happening in the story then I probably have more homework or somethings up and I need a shoe thrown at me.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not reapeating it. Just go check the other chapters and there will be a Disclaimer.**

**Claimer: You understand which characters I made up cause if you're reading this then you know what characters are in Tsubasa and which aren't.**

**No stealing please... blah blah blah... enjoy!**

Fai looked over his shoulder as he heard his bedroom door softly shut and smiled at the tall person standing against the door.

"Hello Kuro-mii." He said with a large grin plastered on his face, "What are you doing up? It's late shouldn't you be asleep or at least in your own room?" he asked.

Kurogane glared at him.

Fai tilted his head as he continued to smile. "Why so grumpy Kuro-rin?" he asked curiously.

"What's up with you?" He asked simply.

"What are you-"

Kurogane abruptly cut him off as he pushed him into the wall and held his wrists at his sides, this time he made sure not to hurt him. "You know damn well what I'm talking about, mage." He growled.

Fai smiled at Kurogane. "No I really don't know what you're talking about." He lied.

"I know that you're lying. Now what's going on with you and Selena? Why don't you like her? You don't even know her." He asked.

Fai looked at the ground. "I don't know." He sighed avoiding Kurogane's gaze.

"Don't lie to me, ma-"

It was Fai's turn to interrupt. "I. Don't. Know!" he yelled as his sky blue eyes met the ninja's red ones.

Kurogane starred into the magician's eyes looking for some sign that he was lying but he could find none. He sighed and moved away from the blonde.

"Look… mage…I'm-" Kurogane said but stopped as the door opened and creaked on its hinges.

Both of the men turned around to look at the small girl who had opened the door. Her eyes widened as she saw Kurogane who's hand was on his sword in an instant.

"Melanie…" Fai breathed out quietly.

She slammed the door shut and rushed down the hallway.

"Wait! Stop!" Fai yelled as Kurogane threw open the door and chased after her.

Fai hurried out after the both of them hoping that he would be the one to get to Melanie first.

.:.:.:.

"Let me go!" Melanie yelled as she kicked against the tall man as he held her off the ground. "Please let me go! Fai! Help!" she cried.

"How do you know the mage's name?" he asked gripping his sword tightly.

"Let go of me!" She yelled in vain.

Kurogane lifted the sword up and held it in front of her. She immediately fell quiet and her body froze.

"Answer my questions." He growled, "How did you get in here? Why are you here? Where's Sakura? And how do you know the mage's name?"

She didn't hear the questions she was too frightened by her reflection in the sword.

"Kurogane," a voice said making Kurogane turn his head, "put your sword away. You're scaring her."

Kurogane glared at the blonde who was walking down the steps toward him.

"She's only a child." Fai said, "She's not any harm to us."

He put his hand on the sword and lightly pushed it down, away from Melanie's face.

"No? Then why is she in our house?" Kurogane growled glaring at the smaller man.

Fai shook her head. "You've got it backwards. We're the ones in her house." He said calmly.

Kurogane glared at the blonde. "How is it her house? I don't think she's even old enough to own a house let alone have the money to pay for one." He argued.

"She doesn't own the house, Kuro." Fai said.

"Then she's not allowed to be here." He growled.

Fai smiled, "We don't technically pay for the house either, Kuro-mii. So we're not allowed to be here either." He said smiling.

Kurogane glared at the mage not being able to think of an argument.

Fai smiled in victory. "Now let her go." He persuaded.

The red eyed man gradually loosened his grip and the short haired girl fell to the floor. She sat in that place for a moment before looking up at Fai as tears ran down her cheeks.

Fai squatted down and smiled at her. "He's not going to hurt you." He coaxed as he held his hand out.

She looked at the hand for a second before grabbing onto it. Fai pulled her over to him, gently, before wrapping his slender arms around her and standing up. She laid her head on his shoulder and Fai could feel the fabric of his pajamas growing damp. He gently rubbed her back to try and clam her as he muttered soothing words.

Kurogane had sheathed his sword and crossed his arms. He glared at the mage who was ignoring him and calming the kid. Fai shot an icy look his way and Kurogane got the message. His gaze lightened and he looked away from Fai. He was so going to hear about this one.

.:.:.:.

Fai pulled the covers up to Melanie's chest and brushed the hair out of her face. He wiped away a lone tear from her face that was slowly running down her freckled face and smiled at the girl. He turned around swiftly and glared at Kurogane who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

The blonde opened the door and motioned for Kurogane to follow him. He looked at the small girl lying in the bed and sighed before walking out of the room. Fai walked away from his room making sure that they were far enough from both Melanie and Syoaran. He pushed open the door to a balcony and walked out into the cool night air.

He leaned against the railing and looked up at the star-filled sky. "It's not like she wants to be here, you know." He said softly looking at the full moon.

Kurogane looked over at the mage. "Why not?" he asked walking over to stand next to the mage.

Fai shrugged. "I don't know." He said, "But the first time I found her she was curled into a ball in a closet." He slowly let his gaze wonder to the ground a floor below them and frowned. "Her first words to me were 'Don't tell her I'm here'."

Kurogane followed the mage's gaze to the ground to try and figure out what he was looking at.

Fai let out a light laugh. "Well actually I guess it was a 'thank you.' after I told her 'Gazuntite.' when she sneezed." He said smiling.

"Don't tell who though?" Kurogane asked.

Fai shrugged once again and leaned his head on his hands. "I don't know I've never found out." He said becoming particularly interested in something. "She doesn't… like to talk about it… much."

Kurogane looked over at the mage. His expression was changing quickly as he followed something with his eyes. His brow furrowing then becoming normal once more before changing into confusion and curiosity.

"Mage?" he asked trying to see what Fai was looking at, "What's wrong?"

Fai didn't take his eyes off of the thing. "Wake up Syoaran and Mokona and take them into my room. Don't wake up Melanie, don't take your eyes off any of them, and don't let them leave." He said.

Kurogane looked at the mage. Multiple questions popped into his head but he decided it would be better to ask later. He walked away from Fai into the house.

"Kurogane," Fai said making him stop, "please hurry."

Kurogane nodded and continued walking away.

Fai glared at the shadow that was slowly walking across the lawn. They stopped abruptly and turned their head towards Fai. The moonlight carved out the person's perfectly rounded cheeks and small pointed chin. Their lips were small and looked soft. Barely half an inch (1.3 cm) away from the top lip was a small rounded nose. The pale skin was unblemished from what he could see. The corners of their lips turned upwards into a smile.

Fai watched as they faded from sight. The last thing to leave was the Cheshire Cat smile but, even then, as Fai looked into the night sky, the smile was still there watching them in the darkness.

**So orginally I had an ending where the bad person was... wherever the heck they were... and she was saying a few lines of the song and Fai's name was in them but I forgot to put it in and it was lame anyway... if you want me to put it in then I'll put it in but its like two lines but whatever you're the people reading this I'm just the person who writes it for you.**

**Kurogane wasn't going to kill Melanie promise. He's not that mean... he just wanted answers and Melanie just came in at the wrong time. No one is going to die... oh wait... one person is going to die in this story but yeah... Sakura's not dead either I just pushed her off the face of the planet for a while but don't worry she won't be alone for long *evil smile*.**

**Oh yeah for Half of My Heart I kinda have a small writers block... so I'm going to try to update it on Sunday because Saturday is my brother's birthday and my cousin is getting baptised so I can't update then... maybe later in the day like 8ish and 12 midnightish.**

**Lupine Magicians: *Hugs back* yay! I'm glad you like my stories! You think my ideas are epic? Awww thank you! That means sooo much to me! You have made my rest of the week! Have fun on vacation!**

**Ok so Death of 4 pointed out that its kinda FaiXOC which I'm not trying to make. Fai isn't in love with Selena that's not why his heart skipped a beat last chapter promise. Fai doesn't love Melanie either she's only around ten or so... Idk they kinda have a brother-sister thing... ** **The story is supposed to have the couple KuroXFai which is one of the best couples in the world. I probably should put something in there that shows it... cause right now its just sorta implied and I'm ranting... sorry...**

**Anyway Review and I'll try to get the next chapter out next Friday**

**Thanks again for reading this I know its not easy to wait for updates and stuff**

**V**


	7. Morning Turmoil

**Ugh... I'm dead... I came back from the dead though cause I wanted to finish these things... I'm a zombie now so I eat brains *looks around* everyone here is safe (I apologize for my humor I mean no offense I'm just being me... ACK! Big words! lol)**

**Disclaimer: Refer Claimer.**

**Claimer: Refer to Disclaimer.**

**(Lol I hate it when things to that if you want to see the dis/claimers refer to another chapter plz.)**

**Anyways enjoy!**

Fai hurried back to his room. He opened the door rather loudly making both Kurogane and Syoaran jump. He looked around making mental notes of everyone and everything in the room. His tense and anxious face softened and he let out a deep breath of relief as he saw the small bundle of covers on his bed. The lean man walked quickly over to the bed. He brushed the short black hair away from the freckled face. A hand was gently placed on his shoulder making the blonde turn around.

"I want to know what's going on and I don't have much patience so I want to know now. But…" Kurogane sighed and ran a hand through his short spiky hair, "I'm just going to have to wait until tomorrow because it's too late and everyone looks like they could use some sleep."

Fai smiled at him gratefully but was answered back with a tired attempt at a glare.

"As soon as everyone is woken up, you're telling us _everything_, mage. And that girl is too." He growled.

"Of course _I'll_ tell you everything, Kuro-mii." Fai said before his smile faded and he looked down at Melanie, who was still fast asleep, "But I think she might still be recovering over that scare you gave her."

Kurogane looked away, refusing to meet the magician's eyes. "Then she shouldn't have been sneaking around like that."

"She wasn't Kuro… I told you that earlier." Fai sighed.

Kurogane walked away and grabbed the door knob. "None the less she's telling us what she knows." He said before walking out of the room.

Fai sighed and looked over at Syoaran, whose expression reminded him of a deer caught in headlights.

"Don't worry we'll explain everything tomorrow." He said smiling, "You should get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Syoaran gave a small nod and walked out of the room. Fai watched as the boy closed the door behind him and sighed. It really had been a long day for everyone. He stretched his arms and grabbed a seat that was in the corner of the room. He set it next to the bed and sat down. He was glad that the chair was like a small couch but of only one person, it meant he wouldn't wake up to a sore body in the morning.

He stretched out on the chair in a cat-like way and rested his hand on his arms. He yawned as his eyelids got heavy and he fell into a deep and blissful sleep.

.:.:.:.

Melanie's eyes fluttered open and she looked around the small room. The first thing she noticed was that it wasn't her room and she tried to remember what had happened last night but it was too earlier and her thoughts were still fuzzy. The next thing she saw was Fai stretched out on a seat next to the bed. His blonde hair was a mess and his pale blue sweatpants covered his feet. She smiled at the familiar face before pushing the covers off of her body and slid out of the bed. She tiptoed to the door and quietly opened it. She slipped out of the room making sure not to wake up Fai when she closed the door.

"Where are you going?" a voice asked making her turn around.

Her skin paled as she saw the dark haired man from last night. He sat against the wall facing the door with a scowl on his face. His arms were crossed over his chest and a sword was leaned against the wall. He turned his head to look down the hall and she chanced a glance to see was he was looking at. Her eyes widened a bit and she tilted her head curiously at the white thing that was bouncing down the hall.

"Kuuuuuurooooo~~!" the thing sang as it made a large jump and landed on top of the ninja's head.

"GET OFF ME YOU PORK BUN!" He yelled and swatted at the thing continuously but missing every time.

The thing turned its attention to Melanie and bounced over to her. It aimed for her hands assuming that she would hold them out for it to stand on but landed on the ground as Melanie backed into the door.

"Are you a ghost?" Mokona asked as it bounced up to meet her face before falling swiftly to the ground.

It bounced up again. "That's odd-" he said as he feel and bounced up again, "-only Black Mokona-" it fell and bounced again, "-can see ghosts."

Melanie screamed and swatted at the bunny-like creature away. Kurogane's hands flew up and covered his ears at the high pitched noise. A soft thud could be heard from inside the room behind her along with a barely auditable 'Oww'. The door behind her quickly flew open and Melanie would have fallen backwards it Fai hadn't caught her.

"Melanie, what's wrong?" he asked, "What happened?"

Fai looked around the hallway. Mokona was sitting on the floor with watery eyes; Kurogane looked annoyed beyond description as he shot glares towards Mokona, Fai, and Melanie; Syoaran had his head halfway out the door and was looking curiously at Melanie, who's screams had woke him up.

"Well," Kurogane growled, "Now that we're all up it looks like it's time for some questions to be answered."

Kurogane walked away from the rest of the group.

Fai sighed and knelt down next to Melanie. "It's ok." He said smiling comfortingly.

Melanie let a small smile show and nodded her head.

**Ugh... again... I'm soooo tired... I did the first football game of the season last night and I hurt... It was fun but I kept screwing up... I'm sad... oh well there's next time... On top of all this I think I'm getting sick. That's one of the down sides of school starting; everyone gets sick within the first three weeks. Although I don't get sick often it still gets me when it can.**

**P.S. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Next chapter will be longer I promise.**

**Sneak peak (cause I updated late):**

**Next Chapter - Answers in the Past.**

Melanie sighed and looked down at her feet. "I would have gone with my parents when they left. But..." She looked up at Kurogane, "I just couldn't leave him all alone."

Kurogane raised an eyebrow. "Him?" he asked. "Who is 'him'?"

"My little brother." Melanie breathed out.

**P.S.S. Need name for Melanie's brother. Any suggestions? I don't know what he looks like either so I'm open for suggestions there too. (Although at the moment I'm leaning towards sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes...)**

**Blue pixalated underlined button that leads to Oz**

**V**


	8. Melanie's Past

**Hi everyone! I finally updated this! I've been working on this chapter for awhile actually. I have a football game I have to play at tomorrow. I wanna know who the heck puts a football game on Saturdays! That's just stupid! And it's at 12:30 in the afternoon too! But I have to get up at eight cause it takes a while to get there. Stormy is staying over my house tonight yay! (She is in the band too so she's just gonna drive there with me). I'll try to get her to say hi at the end of this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: -ignores- the grass in front of my house is dead.**

**Claimer: -ignores again- My puppy is bugging Stormy.**

**I decided that Melaine's brother would be named Seth cuase the more I thought about the name the more I liked it. Thanks Sathreal!**

**Anything in italics is Melaine's past and its in her P.O.V.**

Fai walked into the living room and immediately: felt the air change from peaceful to awkward and heavy. He set a glass of water in front of Kurogane, a glass of orange juice in front of Melanie, another glass of water in front of Syoaran and set a cup of tea on the coffee table before sitting down.

"So then are you going to tell us what is going on here or not?" Kurogane growled at the young girl.

She looked down at her lap thoughtfully before nodding.

"Okay first question: where's Sakura?" he asked glaring at her.

She shook her head quickly. "I can't tell you that, I'm sorry. But I can tell you that she's not alone." She said quietly.

"What do you mean by that?" Kurogane asked.

Syoaran chimed in as well. "Why can't you tell us where Sakura-hime is?" he asked in frustration.

"I can't tell you… I just can't." She said as her eyes grew watery.

Fai gently put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. "It's ok." He said softly as he smiled reassuringly at her.

Kurogane sighed loudly in annoyance. This was getting them nowhere.

"Anyway, how the heck did you get in here?" he asked grumpily.

"My parents were the last people to buy this house." She said.

Kurogane leaned back on the couch and put his arms behind his head. "Why didn't you go with them when they left?" he asked.

Melanie sighed and looked down at her feet. "I would have gone with my parents when they left. But..." She looked up at Kurogane, "I just couldn't leave him all alone."

Kurogane raised an eyebrow. "Him?" he asked. "Who is 'him'?"

"My little brother." Melanie breathed out.

Fai looked over at Melanie in surprise. "Little brother?" he asked, "You never said you had a little brother before."

Melanie nodded and let out a small smile. "Yeah… well I did." She said her smile growing as she remembered him, "His name was Seth and we were really close. Well until _that_ day we were close."

_I sat on top of the hill in the back yard pulling grass from the ground. I let the grass go and watched as the wind picked it up and carried it away. I smiled wondering what it would be like to fly and be carried on the wind._

"_Mel!" I heard a small voice and looked to see a familiar boy with golden hair and sapphire eyes._

_I smiled at him. "What's up, Seth?" I asked._

"_Mel, there's a lady person over there!" he said pointing over at a large wooden fence._

_His childish language made me giggle. "Why are you laughing Mel?" he asked, "Don't laugh at me!"_

_I rubbed the top of his head. "I wasn't laughing __at__ you, Seth." I said smiling._

"_Come on!" he said running over to the fence._

"_Seth! Slow down!" I said running after him._

_He ran and pushed open the wooden gate to the fence and scrambled in._

"_Seth! Don't go in there!" I called after him, "It's not our property!"_

"_It's quite alright, dear." I heard a voice that reminded me of a calm stream trickling down a hillside._

_I snapped around to look behind me to see a women in a shirt as green as the bushes around us. Her brown skirt fell down to her knees and a pale cream colored apron was tied neatly in a bow just above her waist. Her bangs looked like ribbons that were attached to her head and flowed down to her chest to frame an ageless face. Her emerald green eyes shouted out the word 'cat' to me and it seemed that I could never take my eyes off of them. On top of her head laid a straw sun hat with a sunflower on the side. Immediately I froze for reasons unknown to me and I felt my heart jump._

"_What's your name sweet-heart?" she asked sweetly._

_I felt my foot involuntarily take a step back._

"_Honey, it's ok I promise I don't bite." She said beaming at me, "I just want to know your name."_

"_Mel!" I heard my brother call before running up to me._

_She smiled at my brother. "Hello, I believe we've met before haven't we?" she asked._

_He nodded smiling back at her. "Yep, my, name is Seth." He said proudly._

"_What a nice name." she said kneeling down to meet his eyes._

_She looked over at me. "Does your sister have a name she's being shy." She asked him._

_I don't know why but I prayed that he wouldn't tell her my name._

"_Her name is Mel!" he said happily._

"_It's nice to meet you Mel." She said smiling at me._

.:.:.:.

"Over the next few days, Seth did nothing but visit _her_. He wouldn't even talk to me but he would drag me along with him every day." She said.

Her grip tightened on her shorts and she glared at the table. Tears formed in her eyes and eventually spilled out onto her pale cheeks.

"The night that he disappeared was a night that I would go back and redo if I had the chance." She said, "I'd do anything just to have that chance."

Fai draped an arm over her shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile.

"My parents and I searched for weeks for him but he never came back. My parents were so filled with grief that they decided that they couldn't possibly live in this house anymore and decided to leave." She said shakily, "I overheard them talking late at night. But I couldn't just leave him here so I ran away and hid. I took things that I would need and ran as fast as I could. I ended up staying in the woods at the bottom of the hill. I used to play in the woods with my brother all the time so I had a pretty good sense of direction in there. I must have stayed there for a month before my parents gave up the search and left. But I wished that I had left sooner than I did because the night I went back up to the night was the night that _she_ started coming around."

.:.:.:.

"_MELANIE!" my mother screamed and I could almost hear the tears streaming down her face, "SETH!"_

_It was unbearable to listen to her scream and cry but I had to put up with it, for my brother's sake. I wished that I could run out and hug her and she would tell me that everything would be alright but I knew that I couldn't._

"_I'm so sorry about your children." I heard the sweet voice from the top of the hill._

_I looked up to see __her__ with a vase of flowers in her hands._

"_These are from my garden." She said handing them to my mother, "I want you to have them, it's a parting gift. If I happen to see them I'll be sure to give you a call."_

"_Thank you so much." Said my mother, "I don't know what we would have done without you."_

"_Thank you, I'm flattered. I just wish I could see your children's smile again." She said, "I hope that someday you'll come back to visit or possibly to stay."_

"_We'll keep in touch." My mother promised._

_She waved goodbye to my parents and watched as the car drove anyway. She turned to the woods and starred directly at me for a moment before tilting her head and smiling. My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. She knew I was here all along. Why didn't she tell my parents?_

_So many questions floated around in my head as she walked away._

_.:.:.:._

_I waited until night fall to go back to the house. That was the first time I've ever heard the song. I looked behind me and watched as she walked slowly after me singing her siren song. I ran as fast as I could but I felt as though my mind was being pulled away from me. I pounded my fists into the back door in frustration when I found it was locked._

"_Melanie." I heard her deceivingly sweet voice behind me, "There's nothing to be afraid of."_

_I slid down the door and knew that it was the end. I would never find my brother now. The next thing I knew was the porch floor had opened up and I was falling. I landed in the basement of the house safe and sound. As curious to find out how I ended up here I wasn't going to question it at the moment. I was safe for the time being and that was all I cared about._

.:.:.:.

"Over time I had found many different passageways throughout the house. All of which would have been too big for an adult but they were the perfect size for me." She said, "That's how I hid from her."

Kurogane placed his head in his hands. "Melanie," he said, "I have one final question."

Melanie nodded her head. "Then you should ask the question not tell me about it." She said softly.

"Your old neighbor," he asked.

His red eyes met her almost white ones.

"Did she ever leave?"

**Update 9-11-2010 Alternate ending**

"Over time I had found many different passageways throughout the house. All of which would have been too big for an adult but they were the perfect size for me." She said, "That's how I hid from her."

"How did you get food?" Syoaran asked curiously.

She tilted her head and looked at him wondering why, of all the questions he could ask, he choose that one. "My parents didn't take anything when they left so there was some food left." Melanie said.

Now it was Kurogane's turn to be confused. "But there wasn't any food in the fridge when we arrived here." He recalled, "The food must have run out at some point."

Melanie looked at everyone in confusion. "I don't remember the food running out." She said thoughtfully, "I remember being pretty hungry a lot of the time since I had to keep that food for a long time but after I while th hunger just went away."

Fai looked down at her. "Melanie, there was nothing in the fridge or the cupboards." he said sadly.

Melanie looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "But I always had food and water." She said shaking her head, "I must have taken it out of the fridge and put it somewhere else."

"Melanie, how long have you been here?" Kurogane asked looking at the girl curiously.

"I-I don't remember." She said, "I lost track after a while. Couldn't be more than a year or two."

Kurogane nodded acknowledging that they probably wouldn't get anything else out of the girl.

He pushed himself off the couch and walked out of the living room. "Where are you going Kuro-pyun?" Fai asked the ninja.

"I'll be right back." he said.

.:.:.:.

There was a knock at the door and it opened after a few minutes of waiting.

"Hello, Kurogane." Selena said smiling, "What can I do for you? Have you found Sakura?"

Kurogane shook his head. "No unfortunately we haven't found her yet."

Selena frowned and looked worried. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about that." she said sadly.

"Yeah, but we'll find her." Kurogane said, "Anyway, I need to ask you a question."

"Go right ahead." She said.

"How long has the house we're living in now been empty for?" He asked.

Selena looked over at the rickety house. "Hmm." She said thoughtfully, "Well my grandmother used to tell me stories that her grandmother told her about that house. And it was empty since my great great grandmother lived here. So it's been a very long time. Probably at least a hundred years or so."

"A hundred years?" Kurogane asked in astonishment.

Selena nodded. "It's good to have neighbors again." She smiled.

"I have to go." Kurogane said running back to the house, "Thanks for your help!"

"You're welcome!" Selena called after him, "Make sure that you come over and visit soon!"

.:.:.:.

Kurogane ran back through the door and hurried into the kitchen were Melanie was busy helping Fai make something.

"Hey," he said rather loudly making both Melanie and Fai look up at him, "I asked Selena about it and she said that the house had been empty since her great great grandmother had lived there."

"Hyuu~." Fai whistled as lightly swatted Mokona's paw that was reaching for the brown dough that was in a metal bowl, "You have to wait until they're done cooking. Then you can have one."

"What are you making anyway?" Kurogane asked curiously.

"Cookies." Melanie said not missing a beat as she molded the dough into various shapes and set them on the cooking sheet.

"Cookies?" Kurogane asked, "What kind?"

Fai shrugged. "I found the recipe in this book." He said tapping on an old book lying on the flour covered counter, "They're called 'chocolate chip'."

"Chocolate chip?" Kurogane asked, "I've never heard of it- WHY DO I CARE ABOUT SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS COOKIES!" he shouted.

Fai shrugged. "You're the one who asked about it Kuro-rin." He informed.

"I... WHATEVER!" he yelled and ran his hand through his hair, "The point is that Melanie hasn't been here for a year or two. It's been at least a hundred years since she lived here."

**Stormy has refused to say hi. You may now procceed to throw Cheetos at her cause she's a meanie face :P. Lol no don't throw anything at her she needs to stay with me for an hour and half bus ride.**

**I have an alternate ending for this chapter but I'll put it up tomorrow after the football game.**

**Update 9-11-2010**

**Hello! I'm in a not great mood but I'm going to smile and be friendly anyway cause I like everyone here... unlike some freshies that need to mind their own business and find out what just playing is and what harmful playing is (Seriously we were having fun and he/they was/were playing along)... The game wasn't fun... We got yelled at cause no one was paying attention cause we were all hot and sweaty and under three layers of uniform and we couldn't even see and no one wanted to be there. I don't pay attention either cause I have no clue what's goign on in football (American football... not the other football which is soccer to us). I understand that theres four quarters, and each quarter the teams switch sides. The rest of the game is just mainly guys running back and forth across the field with a lemon shaped ball and getting tackled while trying to make it to the end of the field.**

**Why is it even called football? You can't even use your feet! You use your feet in soccer! Geez at least name it better! Try naming it 'Run and Tackle' cause that's all I see happening... (I apologize if anyone is big football fans and are offened I'm not trying to make people mad I'm trying to be funny except I seriously don't understand the game...) Another thing I don't understand is why they're remaking Back to the Future and having Justin Bieber as McFly... Seriously Justin Bieber! That's like remaking Star Wars and having Darth Vader be played by Lady Gaga! Seriously Justin Bieber as McFly = Failure. (Once again don't be insulted I'm trying to be funny and insulting to Justin Bieber cause he's like... barely even 12 and can't sing... I'm sorry but he can't...)**

**I had something else to say here but I forgot... Oh, yeah! The chapters for the alternate ending will have in _bold italics and underlined_ that its a chapter for the alternate ending. It will be the first thing on the page!**

**Update 11-1-10**

**I knew the alternate ending was missing a piece! I found it! That's what was wrong! Yeah I know I haven't updated this in a while sorry... but yeah writers block and unfortunatly my school's football team is going to the playoffs. I'm really sorry I'm actually pretty busy and I'm sick... again... anyway I'm reprinting this and taking it to school with me so I can work on it then cause thats where I get ideas and I get bored so I need something to do... I'm really really sorry once again. You may proceed to throw things at me.**

**Review and tell Stormy that she should have said hi! And because I want to know how I did!**

**V**


	9. Theories ALT ENDING CHP

_**ALTERNATE ENDING CHAPTER! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !  
**__**ALTERNATE ENDING CHAPTER! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !  
**_**Meep! *dodges frying pan*  
I'm sorry I haven't updated! *runs with hands in air avoiding flying things*  
Disclaimer: *tomato splat on writer's face* please see another chapter  
Claimer: I claim being a procrastinator!**

**I fixed the alternate ending last chapter but here it is:**

"Go right ahead." She said.

"How long has the house we're living in now been empty for?" He asked.

Selena looked over at the rickety house. "Hmm." She said thoughtfully, "Well my grandmother used to tell me stories that her grandmother told her about that house. And it was empty since my great great grandmother lived here. So it's been a very long time. Probably at least a hundred years or so."

"A hundred years?" Kurogane asked in astonishment.

Selena nodded. "It's good to have neighbors again." She smiled.

"I have to go." Kurogane said running back to the house, "Thanks for your help!"

"You're welcome!" Selena called after him, "Make sure that you come over and visit soon!"

.:.:.:.

Kurogane ran back through the door and hurried into the kitchen were Melanie was busy helping Fai make something.

"Hey," he said rather loudly making both Melanie and Fai look up at him, "I asked Selena about it and she said that the house had been empty since her great great grandmother had lived there."

"Hyuu~." Fai whistled as lightly swatted Mokona's paw that was reaching for the brown dough that was in a metal bowl, "You have to wait until they're done cooking. Then you can have one."

"What are you making anyway?" Kurogane asked curiously.

"Cookies." Melanie said not missing a beat as she molded the dough into various shapes and set them on the cooking sheet.

"Cookies?" Kurogane asked, "What kind?"

Fai shrugged. "I found the recipe in this book." He said tapping on an old book lying on the flour covered counter, "They're called 'chocolate chip'."

"Chocolate chip?" Kurogane asked, "I've never heard of it- WHY DO I CARE ABOUT SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS COOKIES!" he shouted.

Fai shrugged. "You're the one who asked about it Kuro-rin." He informed.

"I... WHATEVER!" he yelled and ran his hand through his hair, "The point is that Melanie hasn't been here for a year or two. It's been at least a hundred years since she lived here."

**End of Alternate Ending for Last chapter.  
Chapter 8:**

_Clang._

The metal cookie sheet that Melanie was holding crashed to the ground littering the floor with broken pieces of stars, hearts, and various other shapes. She stared at him her eyes wide and her pupils shrunken.

"I-It's," she stuttered, "it's not… it's not t-true."

Fai looked over at the ten year old girl who was starring at Kurogane with wide eyes.

"It couldn't be true." She said, "I'm ten not a hundred!"

"Her food supplies would have run out within a few months." Kurogane stated, "There's no way that she could have survived for long after that."

Fai looked at Melanie then back at Kurogane. She was ten! How could Kurogane look at her and even think that she was over a hundred years old?

"But we can see her." Fai said, "Only Sakura-chan can see ghosts."

Kurogane closed his eyes and furrowed his brow in frustration. "That's the part I don't understand." He said opening his eyes and looking at the girl, "Even Mokona said he can't see ghosts yet he clearly saw her the morning they met."

"Who told you this?" Fai asked.

"Selena did." Kurogane said moving his thumb over his shoulder in the direction their neighbor's house was, "I just asked her."

"Then she's lying!" Melanie shouted.

Both of the older men turned at the sudden outburst from the normally calm child.

Fai knelt down in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's alright Melanie, we'll figure this out." He said in an attempt to pacify her, "We just all need to calm down and I think it wouldn't hurt to get a good night's sleep."

Melanie pushed Fai's hands off her. "Fine." She said still fuming.

"I'll clean up down here." Fai offered, "Go and get some rest."

Fai tousled her hair before she walked away to her bedroom and started to clean up.

"What do you think about all of this?" Kurogane asked filling up the sink with hot soapy water to wash the dishes in.

Fai shrugged. "I can't help you there, Kuro-rin." The blonde said dumping the unused cookie dough into a plastic bag as well as the uncooked cookies that haven't met their fate on the floor, "I haven't a clue really."

He closed the bag and set it in the fridge the leaned his back against it and closed it. "I mean, isn't it somewhat farfetched that she's a hundred years old? She's barely four feet tall and she's that old?" Fai said looking at Kurogane with that fake grin on his face, "What you said about the food makes sense, but it's still not complete."

"What do you mean 'not complete'?" the ninja asked washing a bowl that was emptied of its cookie dough.

"Well if she's dead where's the body?" Fai asked before wiping off the counter with a wet cloth.

Kurogane set the bowl on a rack to dry and grabbed another dish. "She said she found some passageways around the house." He said stopping to look at the mage.

"Hmm," Fai said placing his index finger on his chin right below his lower lip and placing his other hand on his hip femininely, "She would have died in a place that can't be found easily and only a child could have fit in, how oddly convenient."

"Coincidence?" the dark haired man asked.

Fai let out a small laugh. "Now what have we learned about that?" he asked teasingly.

"You think it was murder?" Kurogane asked slightly surprised.

Fai shrugged. "It easily could have been. Whoever wanted it done could have just taken her food away little by little so she wouldn't have noticed." Fai explained, "She also could have been poisoned or just simply the murderer knew about the house and all its secrets and killed her possibly putting the body into one of the tunnels."

"That would work as well I suppose." The red eyed man said running a hand through his hair.

Fai's goofy smile turned into a small sly one. "I think we need Melanie to show us these tunnels. Maybe they'll lead us to Sakura-chan."

"Or maybe they'll lead us to a skeleton." Kurogane muttered.

Fai's smile turned goofy again, "Don't be such a downer, Kuro-pessimist."

"KUROGANE!"


End file.
